While the CRP notes that direct spending on the presidential election is actually down slightly from 2008 (going from $2.8 million last cycle to an estimated $2.6 million), spending by congressional candidates is up, as is the wave of Super PAC spending and advocacy advertisements funded in the wake of the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision allowing corporate contributions.

“What remains unknown – and may never fully be accounted for – is how much money secretive ‘shadow money’ organizations spent, with some investing massive sums on ads, but also on unreported and purportedly ‘non-political’ activities, as the election neared,” the CRP writes.

Six billion dollars is obviously a staggering – but somewhat intangible – figure. So to give a sense of its enormity, KUT News compiled a list of what $6 billion dollars will buy you:

Just under $20 for every person currently living in the United States.

A brand new Toyota Corolla—which has a retail price of $16,230 for a basic model—for everyone in Corpus Christi.

You could pay off the national debt of Albania, Bolivia, Cambodia, Gabon, Moldova or Mongolia. Or you could pay off the combined national debts of Afghanistan, Barbados, Botswana, the British Virgin Islands, Greenland and Sierra Leone.

The CRP writes that the mounting cost of elections creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts: "In reaction, candidates feel pressure to raise more funds," Bob Biersack, senior fellow at the CRP, says in a statement. "Everybody reacts to this new environment by getting as much money as they can."

Do you think much can be done to remove money from politics? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.